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Their debut album “Settle” not only makes the third eye vibrate, it also gets the body moving. With hits such as Latch (feat. Sam Smith), White Noise and You & Me, they brought garage, house and UK bass to the big pop stage - with a fresh, danceable sound. Over the past 10 years, they have proven their versatility time and time again: Their second album Caracal(2015) brought international features with artists such as The Weeknd, Lorde and Miguel. 2020 then saw the release of Energy, an album that draws on influences from African music, hip-hop and soul - once again full of collaborative power and rhythmic finesse.

Filmmakers have learned from this to package content via the ear. At the center of this task is the sound designer/musician who forms a statement and thereby creates content in the film, from his point of view how the world sounds. So we start listening to the world as he sees it! Synthesizers have created new dimensions in this regard that cannot be done with conventional orchestra. A lot of attention is paid in this BBC doc to musician Vangelis, who finally talks about the "Blade Runner" soundtrack as well.

Update: Unfortunately, this doc is no longer on YouTube. Here is another movie about the first synths in history:

But the idea of composing music was of course already born back then! At the beginning of the 1960s, Peter Zinovieff came up with the idea of creating musically meaningful sequences - the sequencer was born. The man with a pocket calculator in his hand was thus only a conclusion from the fact that digital computers are more suitable for the task of playback than analog devices, which quickly reach their storage limits. In 1967, Zinovieff demonstrated an automatic composition with a self-designed computer in combination with an EMS synthesizer, which astounded the audience with a confusing succession of sounds. The history of the computer is therefore closely linked to music, because musical sequences that end automatically in a mini-program can only be handled efficiently by a computer. This documentary impressively shows the period from the early 60s to the early 70s. Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd etc. ultimately only benefited from the creative power of the creators of that time!

Rather, you expect a neo-new-waver dressed in Joy Division style. But that's not the case at all! How do you get hold of this pop star of a new order, who studied music in Los Angeles, lives in Austin, Texas, and teaches philosophy in Hawaii? Preferably not at all, because the album “We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves” is so unrestrainedly mashed together from pop garbage that it sounds idiosyncratic again and is a clear recommendation. It roars, it echoes and somehow something comes out of it that makes you want to press the repeat button...

At the beginning of the album everything was open and no one knew where the journey would go with Vince Clarke, M83, Air, Massive Attack, Edgar Froese, Armin van Burren, Moby and other allies. This ARTE doc summarizes Jean Michel Jarre's journey and goes into detail about his collaborations with the artists on the new album. It is nice that at the end in the studio of Hans Zimmer in Hollywood is referred to the father "Maurice Jarre", who throughout his life saw Los Angeles as his own musical territory.

Update: Unfortunately, the original documentary is no longer on YouTube. Here is a report in tracks.